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Grains of Wisdom Winter 2007
Message From the President
January 2008 marks the 10th anniversary of mandatory folic acid fortification of enriched grain products. As luck would have it, questions have been raised in the past couple of months regarding the value of further fortification and subsequent benefits. There is no doubt that the last ten years have seen a dramatic decrease in the incidence of birth defects in those countries that embraced folic acid fortification. The question is, are there benefits beyond birth defect prevention or problems related to other chronic disease risk? We will address both sides of the issue in our “Study Spotlight.” Be sure to check out our new fact sheet on Resistant Starch. While not a new concept, the role that resistant starch plays in gut health is beginning to emerge as a real benefit. As we approach the holiday season keep in mind what is really important – making memories with family and friends. While this often includes food, it doesn’t have to be all about food. Be sure to keep some old traditions but encourage your clients to create new ones as well. Eating earlier in the day to allow time for other activities such as a walk in the park or family games is just an example. Others might include cutting down on appetizers so the meal itself is more enjoyable and adding a fresh salad, vegetable or whole grain bread to the holiday fare. Use Wheat Foods Council as a resource and have a happy and healthy holiday season. Marcia Scheideman, M.S., R.D. President
Reminder!
Reminder! – The holidays are here and we’re providing a fun and educational activity for your clients to use as they plan meals for their holiday festivities. Knowing that the holidays bring out the chef in everyone, we hope you will encourage your clients to bring their kids into the kitchen to create new recipes and perfect old favorites with the help of our nutritious recipe guide. As you may know, until January 31st, we are accepting recipes created by parents for our 35th anniversary cookbook. This cookbook will serve as a tool for parents to use with their children to teach them about nutrition, serving sizes and the origin of their food. In conjunction with this program we developed an educational guide to assist parents in creating more nutritious recipes. Your clients’ recipes could appear in our cookbook! The WFC will choose 30 recipes to be featured alongside five exclusive creations from our partner and Food Network star, Chef Gale Gand. The book will be available in May 2008. Below are sample tips from our nutritious recipe guide. Cut the fat… Cut some fat and add some flavor! When reducing the fat content in a recipe, add more flavor boosters like herbs, mustards or extracts. Be picky with your protein… Make it lean – Switch from ground beef to lean ground turkey or sirloin to cut back on the total calories and fat. Reduce your dairy… Evaporate it – Skip the heavy cream and opt for evaporated skim milk. Some additional food for thought… Half from whole – In recipes that require all-purpose flour, use half all-purpose flour and half whole-wheat flour. You will add whole grains and fiber and the kids won’t even notice! Entries are open to all parents – moms and dads alike! The criteria for all recipes submitted are: wheat-based child-friendly nutritious convenient The five recipe categories are breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snacks. Please visit the WFC website for more information. The cookbook contest is listed on the left navigation bar of the homepage.
Hot Topics
Resistant Starch Foods high in resistant starch (RS) are attracting the attention of leading researchers and health professionals. The key to these benefits is the way resistant starch is digested. While most starches are digested in the small intestine and absorbed as sugar, resistant starch gets its name because it resists digestion until it reaches the large intestine. There, through fermentation, it takes on many of the roles of other undigested carbohydrates long recognized as dietary fiber while providing some unique additional benefits. These advantages include weight management, blood sugar management and intestinal health. Weight Control Research indicates increased resistant starch consumption positively affects fat burning, glycemic management and intestinal health. Janine Higgins, Assistant Professor, Center for Human Nutrition, University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center, reviewed research showing how resistant starch lowers the post-prandial glucose and insulin impact of foods, improves insulin sensitivity and may increase satiety, all important factors in reducing weight gain and risk for diabetes. According to Dr. Higgins, consuming resistant starch makes the body prioritize fat metabolism over carbohydrate metabolism. This fat burning effect of resistant starch could result in lower body fat in humans. Colon Cancer Dietary consumption of resistant starch may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer and other colonic diseases. According to David Topping, a senior scientist from the Australian CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization), African Americans have high rates of large bowel disease, but native populations that consume traditional diets high in whole grains have very low rates of these diseases.
Study Spotlight
Enriched grains, namely white bread, cereal, flour, rice and pasta are foods nearly everyone enjoys. And January 2008 marks a milestone for these foods as it is the 10th anniversary of mandatory folic acid fortification for all enriched grain products. Most people are aware that folic acid helps in the prevention of neural tube defects (NTD) and, in the United States, NTD cases have decreased by nearly one-third since fortification commenced.¹ While folic acid’s reputation is solid with women in the childbearing ages, concerns about this important nutrient are causing a stir in the medical research community. A study from Tufts University recently reported that “folic acid fortification may be a potential growth factor for cancerous or pre-cancerous cells when administered in large quantities.”² While these findings are opposite of existing research that demonstrate positive benefits of folic acid – like lowering homocysteine levels and possible protection against cardiovascular defects, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease –Tufts researchers acknowledge that their report is merely a foundation for future research.^3,4,5,6 So what does this all mean? Nutrition research is constantly evolving and these findings are still in the infancy stages, well before any clear recommendations can be issued. In the meantime, you should enjoy your enriched grains as recommended by the US Dietary Guidelines and if your family has a history of colon cancer, be proactive about getting screened regularly. 1) Williams, L.J., et al. Decline in the Prevalence of Spina Bifida and Anencephaly by Race/Ethnicity: 1995-2002. Pediatrics. 2005; 116(3): 580-586. 2) Balancing Risk, Benefits of Folic Acid Fortification. Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter. October 2007;25(8):1-2. 3) National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements, Folate. http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/folate.asp#h10 4) McCully KS.,Homocysteine, vitamins, and vascular disease prevention. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2007;86(5):1563S-8S. 5) Hoey L, McNulty H, Askin N, Dunne A, Ward M, Pentieva K, Strain J, Molloy AM, Flynn CA, Scott JM., Effect of a voluntary food fortification policy on folate, related B vitamin status, and homocysteine in healthy adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2007;86(5):1405-13. 6) Luchsinger JA, Tang MX, Miller J, Green R, Mayeux R. Relation of higher folate intake to lower risk of Alzheimer disease in the elderly. Archives of Neurology. 2007;64(1):86-92.
Ask Marcia
Deb asks: Can you direct me to a website that will tell me what bread brands are truly whole grain? I see in our local supermarket breads advertised as so, but when checking the ingredients I find that not to be the case. Please help me. Thanks. Thanks, Deb, for your question. It’s good to see that you are interested in whole grain products for you and your family. There is no way to know for sure any or all websites that list whole grain branded products. Each manufacturer features its own products while minimizing its competitors. With that in mind, the only way to make sure that you are getting a whole grain product is to read the label. If the first ingredient states “whole grain,” “whole wheat,” or “100% whole grain,” you can be sure you are getting a product that is primarily whole grain. If it says 100% whole grain, then, by law, it must be 100% whole grain. Until FDA makes a final ruling of the definition manufacturers may use when referring to whole grains, the industry will pass on that information in their own way in order to communicate what is in their products and yes, to promote the attributes of the products. For a more in-depth explanation of the various types of wheat and flour, check out the “Resources” section of the WFC website. Go to www.wheatfoods.org, click on Resources, Consumers, Grains of Truth. There are several Grains of Truth brochures that deal with bread and wheat. You can also go to the FAQ section as well. I hope this information helps you, Deb.
Meet & Greet
Your chance to meet our president, Marcia Scheideman, is right around the corner. Marcia will attend the following events: North Dakota County Representative Annual Meeting, December 19, 2007, Fargo, N.D. U.S. Wheat Meeting, February 3-5, 2008, Washington, D.C. BEMA-ASB Winter Summit, March 2-5, 2008, Chicago, IL.
Fast Fun Facts
Fast Fun Facts About Bread – Grains fill you up, not out. Gram for gram, carbohydrates contain less than half the calories found in fat. Carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram, fats have 9! The number of neural tube birth defects has decreased by 26% since folic acid fortification. MyPyramid recommends getting half your daily grain servings from whole grain sources. One bushel of wheat can make 90 one-pound loaves of whole wheat bread. The belief that bread is fattening is a myth. A single slice of bread contains about 1g of fat and 80 calories, most of which come from complex carbohydrates, the body’s preferred source of fuel. A family of four can live ten years from the bread produced by one acre of wheat. There are more than 1,000 varieties of bread on the market – enough to please any palate. According to the Great Food Almanac, the average American student will have consumed approximately 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches upon graduation from high school. Adapted from: Bread, a great choice, any way you slice it!, a Wheat Foods Council publication.
WFC in the News
The call for recipes for the Wheat Foods Council’s 35th anniversary cookbook is receiving plenty of attention from the media! Coverage has appeared in American Baby, Chicago’s Daily Herald, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Modesto Bee and on WebMD’s Recipe Doctor blog. The WFC’s Grain Talk blog created a considerable amount of buzz when Marcia addressed the inconsistencies of Gary Taubes’ new book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. Comments for and against Taubes’ book were posted by medical doctors, registered dietitians and consumers and a heated cyber conversation ensued. A slew of blogs reported on Marcia’s point of view and the High Plains Journals also ran a story. To view the blog, click here.
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